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NIV is used unless otherwise noted.

God’s Word: Our Secret Weapon

In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish

all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation

and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

Ephesians 6:16-17

We end the week looking at the shield, the helmet, and the sword. As I’ve studied this passage, I see that every piece of the armor connects to the belt of truth: God’s word.

The shield of faith.Romans 10:17 says faith comes from hearing the word of Christ. Since Christians already have faith, how is the shield different? I better understood this analogy when I learned that Paul wrote to the Christians in Ephesus, who were surrounded by other religions contradicting the Christian faith. Paul wrote to encourage them to not mix their faith with that of their neighbors. A good reminder for us today.

The helmet of salvation. I thought of this simply as salvation from sin. However, Paul writes this to Christians who would already have this. So they wouldn’t need to put on their salvation. This could be the confidence of our salvation as in Thessalonians 5:8. And how do we get confidence? By knowing the God’s word!

The sword of the Spirit.Hebrews 4:12 tells us the word of God is sharper than any sword. Jesus quoted scripture when Satan tempted him in the wilderness. A perfect picture of resisting the devil and causing him to flee. James 4:7

Entire books have been written on the armor of God. So there’s a lot more to learn. I highly recommend Victory in Spiritual Warfare by Tony Evans or Priscilla Shirer’s Bible study, The Armor of God.

Lord, help me to spend time in Your word. Give me wisdom to understand scripture, and help me to apply it.